Pages

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Obituary for my mother

My Sister sent me this
Dr. Margaret Cameron Wheeler, 85, died in her Eugene, OR home on April 29,
2006. She was born September 3, 1920 in Toronto, Canada to Robert Mc Dougall and
Euphemia Cameron. She married Dr. George William Wheeler (Deceased 2002) in
October, 1957 in New Haven, CT.

Dr. Wheeler received a BA from the University of Toronto in 1946, an MA in
Anthropology from University of Toronto in 1948 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from
Yale University in 1957. She worked in the field of Anthropology for over 40
years, beginning as an Assistant Professor at University of Toronto,
1950-1957; Research Fellow/Research Assistant, Yale University 1957-1962; Assistant
Professor of Anthropology, Southern Connecticut State College, 1962-1963;
Research Associate, Neighborhood Improvement Project, New Haven, CT 1963-1965;
Professor of Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1965 -
1984; Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 1984-1989.
She was the recipient of numerous teaching awards including the Chancellor's
Award for Excellence in Teaching from SUNY at Stony Brook.

She was active for 23 years in the United States Power Squadron, the world's
largest boating educational organization. She served as District Commander,
received 18 merit marks and taught courses in
Piloting, Navigation and Boating Safety. She was an avid and skilled sailor. For
over 30 years she and her husband spent most summers sailing along the New
England coastline.

She was an intrepid young woman. When she was just 16 years-old, she
represented Canada on the swimming team in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. During
college she raced Austin Healy sports cars, took summer jobs as a camp counselor, a
delivery truck driver and worked dispatch on the Canadian Pacific Railway. She
was an ardent bird watcher, and a defender and lover of animals, both wild
and domestic. She enjoyed gardening, good political discussions, anything
Canadian and a fine sense of humor.

She is survived by her son William Cameron Wheeler, of St. Petersburg,
Florida; her daughter Alice Chamberlin Wheeler of Eugene, OR; her son-in-law Ken R.
Hardenbrook of Eugene, OR, and two granddaughters Moria and Rowan.

3 comments:

  1. My most influential professor at SUNY Stony Brook. She inspired me to study Anthropology and major in it - i later switched to social work and emergency management but I never forgot Dr. Wheeler

    ReplyDelete
  2. My most influential teacher at SUNY Stony Brook. I remember her well with her inspiration classes about eskimos - i wanted to study Anthropology more but could not afford grad school - i later became a social worker and went into emergnecy management

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please do say more. My mother was a very interesting person, however, I never got the chance to know her as an adult. So, I would appreciate any stories you have to share, as would my sister.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome feedback or comments on my blog, but please, no advertisements.